Singapore

SG Prices continue to rise despite cooling

Despite numerous government attempts to cool the market, property prices in Singapore have continued to rise in many sectors during the second quarter of 2013.

The latest data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) showed prices for private homes in Singapore rose one percent quarter-on-quarter, having risen 0.6 percent during the previous three month period.

Rental prices for private homes were also on the rise during the second quarter – up 0.3 percent quarter-on-quarter but less than the 0.8 percent rise seen during Q1.

Resale prices for Housing Development Board (HDB) properties also continued to increase during the three months ending June 2013, up 0.5 percent from the first three months of the year.

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam told Reuters earlier this month that the property market has shown signs of stabilising, but that the government would like to see some softening of prices.

Many analysts and market watchers predicted that prices would decline following January’s significant attempts by the government to cool the market, however this latest data suggests those efforts did not have the desired impact.